FoodWorks-International® 

The wines of the United States are known to be a bold and lusty product created from an international melting pot of people and their talents.

France has to be thanked for the dry acidic style of table wine that places a premium on a subtle complexity. The finest grapes, are thought in many cases to be of French origin: The Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir and more.

Italy brought the joy of wine as an ideal companion to be shared with food.

Germany added its contribution of the Riesling grape and a taste for slightly sweeter wines.

The American wine story will be best heard through a cacophony of accents and bears a theme similar to that of a meeting of the United Nations.

From Count Agostin Haraszthy, who got the California wine industry on its feet a century ago, to Andre Tchelistcheff, who did as much as any man to professionalize U.S. wine making since World War II, and so the list can go on:

Paul Masson and Charles LeFranc were the early luminaries of America. Later came Martini, Parducci, Sebastiani and more, all names we recognize on labels today.

Robert Mondavi convinced his peers that wine could be made in California that would compete with the best  from France. Robert Mondavi's Napa Valley neighbors, Joe He Mitz and Joseph Phelps, Bill Hill and Bernard Portet, among dozens of others, planted matured vines and made great wines from the grapes to prove the point.

Ernest and Julio Gallo taught the world how to sell good wine especially in quantity.

Along the way, with much of the activity happening in California and also bursting out across most of the 50 states, the old ways have gradually blended into a new, all-American style.

Rich fruit, ripe grapes, deep, powerful aromas and flavors: These qualities characterize American wine at its best.